Safety Planes

Safety planes restrict the robot workspace, the tool, and the elbow.

PolyScope X screen displaying safety planes.

You can configure safety planes with the properties listed below:

• Name. This is the name used to identify the safety plane.

• Offset from base. This is the height of the plane from the base, measured in the Y direction.

• Tilt. This is the tilt of the plane, measured from the power cord.

• Rotation. This is the rotation of the plane, measured clockwise.

You can configure each plane with the restrictions listed below:

• Normal. When the safety system is in Normal mode, a normal plane is active and it acts as a strict limit on the position.

• Reduced. When the safety system is in Reduced mode, a reduced mode plane is active and it acts as a strict limit on the position.

• Both. When the safety system is in either Normal or Reduced mode, the plane is active and acts as a strict limit on the position.

• Trigger Reduced Mode. The safety plane causes the safety system to switch to Reduced mode if the robot tool or elbow is positioned beyond it.

The feature is enabled by default.

You can enable Restrict Elbow to prevent the robot elbow joint from passing through any of your defined planes.

Disable Restrict Elbow to allow the elbow to pass through planes.

Restricting tool flange and wrist joints prevents the tool flange and wrist joints from crossing a safety plane. The tool flange and wrist joints are monitored by the safety system, preventing them from crossing a safety plane.

Disabling the restriction can be useful if it is exclusively the attached tool that should be monitored, e.g. in welding applications where only the welding tool is dangerous and the robot moves at low speeds.

Safety planes are defined in relation to a frame defined in the installation or the robot world frame. The robot is allowed to move such that all monitored parts of the robot arm and user defined safety spheres are in front of the plane.

You can use an existing frame to define a safety plane. This provides a more intuitive way to specify plane parameters from a predefined position and rotation (X, Y, Z, RX, RY, RZ). Select the frame in the Copy Frame drop-down menu.

The Copy Frame drop-down menu is found in the parameters of a safety plane definition on the Planes screen. This list includes frames defined on the Frames screen. When you select a frame, it is used as the safety plane definition.

If you specify offset, tilt, and rotation parameters, they are applied to the selected frame (see "Configuring a Safety Plane"). The resulting safety plane combines all parameters.

3. In the Parent field, select Base.